Secret Wings

07||Trolls, Dragons, and Swamps

Never in her life did she hate field trips as much as she did now. The smell of mud and plants permeated through the air. 

Her skin felt sticky from the humid temperature of the area. The only two who looked as if they were enjoying themselves were Professor Palladium and Flora. Flora inhaled the swamp stench as if she were smelling roses. Her eyes glittered with excitement as she felt the nature around her. 

Artemis tripped more than once on various roots protruding from the ground. Her body ached profusely from the events 48 hours ago. Her under eye circles seemed to have deepened in color as her nights were plagued with her getting killed, threatened, and beaten up. 

She did not understand why they needed to visit the swamp in order to understand nature. Textbooks were just as good, but it seemed in this world textbooks were a foreign concept. The rest of her class followed their long haired professor, their faces showing annoyance at his choice of field trip. 

"Now students, you are to connect with nature to find your way out of the swamp. In your groups you were given a flare, if you are in danger pull it and will come to you. Good luck." With that he disappeared in an array of sparks. 

Artemis stared at her group, Flora, Musa, and two other fairies she didn't know the names of were with her. 

Holly and Willow seemed to match their personalities. One girl had her shoulders hunched inwards and her long tresses of hair covering her face reminding Artemis of a weeping willow tree she grew up with as a kid. While, the other girl had bright blonde hair and a bitchy attitude with her passive aggressive comments about Professor. She reminded Artemis of her high school nemesis Holly Berkley, the girl would always find ways to make Artemis feel self-conscious and inferior.

She wished Stella and Tecna had the same class, but they were given other classes. 

The red-head hesitantly touched the sodden ground, magic was steeped into it. Bile rose in her throat as she was overwhelmed by the strong magical energy. 

It was similar to Ambrose's energy. A frown marred her face when she thought about him, he left her all alone and threatened her. Who does that?

"Flora, I think we should go that way." Bloom said, pointing towards the forest. 

The nature fairy nodded as they headed towards the shaded canopy of trees. Silence filled the forest as they trudged through the soaked soil. Not even the birds sang their song.

"Flora, isn't it strange that no animal is making a sound?" Musa asked, her brows furrowed. The nature-loving fairy nodded as she closed her eyes listening to nature. 

"Something is wrong. Nature is trying to warn us. What do you two think?" She turned to our other group members only to find them gone. 

"Ugh, typical city fairies. Always flee at the sound of danger." Musa joked, her arms crossed in irritation. 

Artemis sighed as they kept following the trail of magical energy. All of a sudden Artemis lost her footing causing her to slip and land head first in mud. A groan escaped her as she stood up. 

"I fucking hate the swamp." She cursed, anger coursing through her veins. The thought of burning the swamp down to a crisp was very tempting at that moment.

Her aquamarine eyes glanced at her two friends to see they were trying, but failing to hold in their laughter. 

"Oh, just laugh already." She grumbled as she walked towards an opening in the channel of trees. 

Laugher rang behind as the mud slowly dripped off her uniform. 

"My life is in the swamp." She sighed as she noticed a river.